Photo by Kerri Phox/The Atlanta Voice“Irie Mon” is a term meaning “everything is cool” or “everything is blessed” in Jamaican Patois, and that’s exactly the feeling Christoper and Payton Williams, the team behind Irie Mon Cafe, want to extend to Atlanta through its food. “Irie Mon i s a term of endearment in Jamaica, and that’s what we offer here. Food through irie mon, through endearment,” Christopher said. Since the father-daughter duo opened their flagship restaurant in 2017 — an 800-square-foot spot at 1800 Peachtree Rd. that serves takeout— the brand has rapidly grown as a staple for Caribbean fare in Atlanta. They now operate seven locations in Atlanta, including in the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the West End, and Politan Row in Colony Square, and are in-demand vendors for charity events and popular events in the city, such as Rum Pum Brunch and One Musicfest. Roaming around the city, it’s likely that you’ll find one of their food trucks parked somewhere serving up hot dishes of bold flavors or that you’ve ordered from their restaurant on a food delivery app.From classics such as brown stew oxtail, ackee and saltfish, and red beans and rice to fusion dishes such as rasta pasta, the Williams’ are determined to bring authentic flavors and spices directly from Jamaica to the city. Photo by Kerri Phox/The Atlanta Voice“We are the best Jamaican restaurant in Atlanta. We are here representing the culture to the fullest. We’re going to stay authentic because we can’t water this thing down. They know authentic food once they walk in,” Christopher said.The day usually begins in the early hours of the morning when the grill, located outside of its flagship location, is fired up and ready to pump out pounds of jerk chicken for its other locations as well DoorDash and Uber Eats. It’s a fast-growing business that has them cooking 100 pounds of rice and 200 pounds of oxtail at a time and 15 tons of chicken a month.  But the rapid growth that has hit its peak in the last two years began 50 years ago in Faith’s Pen, a humble corridor of roadside shops between Ocho Rios and Kingston. The day at Irie Mon usually begins in the early hours of the morning when the grill, located outside of its flagship location. Photo by Kerri Phox/The Atlanta VoiceA Family Business Sitting in their new lounge-style restaurant right next door to their flagship location, Christopher was reminiscent as he recalled his mother waking up at 3 a.m. to walk for miles to buy fresh produce such as corn, yam and oranges for her shop, Ms. Schurry’s Spot. He said he would sit by her side and help her roast corn, watching as she became known for her fresh food and flavorful dishes. Years later, Ms. Shurry — as she is affectionately known — began selling curry goat, a staple Jamaican dish that allowed her to worm her way into the hearts of hundreds of travelers and locals who stopped by her shop, including reggae pioneer Bob Marley. That same curry goat recipe, along with many others she cultivated, is now used at Irie Mon, thanks to Ms. Schurry’s help in curating the menu in its beginning phase. “All walks of life, all the upper echelon of Jamaica, know my mom. That evolved into a restaurant where she started selling oxtail, jerk chicken and everything else,” Christopher said. “Every time my mother comes, she’s so proud. She’s such a humble lady, but she’s so proud of what we have achieved. Even at her little roadside shop there, she’ll tell people, ‘Oh, I have a restaurant in Atlanta, Irie Mon Cafe.”Photo by Kerri Phox/The Atlanta VoiceHer legacy is honored with a portrait displayed in the bar and lounge. What started as a quaint market on the streets of Jamaica, run by a mother with her son’s help, has evolved into a franchise more than 1,000 miles away in Atlanta run by that same son and his child. However, working alongside her father wasn’t initially in the cards for Payton. She was attending nursing school in 2020 when she learned her father had been diagnosed with stage-three gastric cancer. She said it was a “turning point” for her and that his fight to beat cancer inspired her. “I saw that life is short,” Payton said. “I didn’t go to school for this; neither did he. So I learned from him, I learned from the community, I learned from Atlanta, I learned from the customers and everybody that I interact with.”For Christopher and Payton, family is everything, and they try to incorporate as many family members as possible into the business. Great customer service is also a driving force for the business. Those sentiments of family and customers first have translated into success, with a spot as one of the top 50 fastest-selling restaurants on Uber Eats in Atlanta and hopes to continue expanding, Christopher said. “It’s amazing to see a third generation that’s still involved in this thing that started 50 years ago. We didn’t know it was going to come to this, but we definitely put our best foot forward. We want to have the best representation of Jamaica,” Christopher said. “Because of that, we just go above and beyond for our clients. We go above and beyond for the community and our employees, who are the backbone that keeps us going. We’re really happy, and we’re really proud to call this our home and our community.”The post Everything is blessed at Irie Mon Cafe appeared first on The Atlanta Voice. ...read more read less